Issues in paediatric drug use in the US

Abstract

Approximately 75% of childhood illnesses requiring drug therapy are treated with drugs used in an off-label manner. As long as drugs can be used in this way, there will be little incentive for pharmaceutical companies to conduct controlled studies of their use in children. Accordingly, there is a dearth of information on paediatric drug use. At the 55th Annual Meeting of the American Academy of Dermatology [ San Francisco, US; March 1997 ], specialists in paediatric care addressed some of the current issues regarding the use and availability of drugs for childhood disease in the US.